Mocha Mousse Frosting

Thanks for sharing!

This frosting is a fun fluffy mocha twist on ermine frosting. If you like boiled milk frosting, this version has chocolate and coffee cooked in making it even more flavorful.

This fluffy chocolate and coffee frosting is a fun and delicious twist on one of my all-time favorite frostings, ermine Frosting.  I just love how light and fluffy it turns out.  

The texture of this frosting is a lot like whipped cream. It is really light and airy.

It is perfect for spreading over layer cakes or put it on a coffee angel food cake like I did. If you get the texture right, you can even pipe swirls onto cupcakes.

However, the softer texture of this frosting does mean it is not the best for using for fine details. This coffee frosting is more for tasting great than for decorating.

Making Mocha Ermine Frosting

I replaced some of the flour with cocoa powder and added just a bit of instant coffee granules to deepen the flavor.  I also went ahead and threw the sugar in with the milk when I cooked it.

A lot of ermine frosting recipes have you add the sugar in the mixer. However I prefer cooking it with the milk because it ensures that there won’t be any grainy texture left in the frosting.

The key to getting this frosting right is cooking the flour/sugar/cocoa mixture thick enough.  It should be like a really thick pudding or paste when you take it off the heat.

You should have to scoop (or at least coax) it into the mixer bowl when it is cooled, it should not be able to be poured.  The other key is to make sure it is completely cooled to room temperature or even chilled before you add it to the butter.

You don’t want to melt the butter at all.  Other than that, just let it whip for several minutes.  That is where you get that great fluffy texture.  

Don’t get yourself in a hurry and take it off too soon.  If you have never made a cooked frosting, you don’t know what you are missing!

The only word of warning is that this frosting doesn’t fare well in hot temperatures.  It is a very soft butter frosting and you are going to want to keep it cool or at room temperature.

If you are having a summer BBQ, you’ll want to keep your cake in the house until it is time to serve. You can also chill the frosted cake in the refrigerator for a while to help set it, that will give you more time to serve the cake before it gets too soft.

Tips and Tricks for making Ermine/Boiled Milk Frosting

Getting the milk and flour paste just right is the key.  You want it to be a thick paste before you remove it from the heat.

Be sure to keep stirring it, especially as it thickens. You don’t want it to scorch on the bottom of the pan.

If the frosting seems a bit loose when you are done, there is a chance your butter was over softened or your paste wasn’t all the way cooled.  Try placing the bowl of frosting in the refrigerator for 15 or 20 minutes and whipping it again.

If it is still loose, the paste probably wasn’t thick enough.  A bit of powdered sugar or heat treated flour can help tighten it up this time.

Just cook your paste a little longer next time! 

Does boiled milk frosting get hard?

Boiled milk frosting does not form a crust. If you need to set the frosting, using the refrigerator is the way to go. The frosting will get soft again once it is at room temperature.

If you need a frosting that crusts, try crusting buttercream. Check out my Frosting 101 to learn about the different kinds of frosting and what each is good for.

More great coffee inspired recipes:

Mocha whipped cream is another fun topping for desserts. We have piped it on cheesecakes, sponge cakes and more!

Mocha chocolate chunk cookies are rich and chocolaty with the goodness of coffee baked right in.

No bake mocha cheesecake is pretty and delicious. The fluffy mocha cream cheese center is hard to beat.

This mocha mousse frosting was amazing on a coffee angel food cake, but it would also be wonderful on coffee sponge cake.

Thanks for sharing!